Color-changing silly putty

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pH Indicating Silly Putty

RED CABBAGE, TURMERIC, AND SILLY PUTTY LAB. Erica and Ayo. The purpose of this lab was to create Silly Putty that could also be used as a pH indicator. To create such a thing, pipettes, beakers, and scales were used. A pipette was used to put the acid or base into the Silly Putty once it was made into an indicator. This lab showed the pH level of several different substances when compared to a color scale. There was a color scale for the red cabbage indicator and the turmeric indicator. Each indicator had a list of what color the indicator would turn based on what pH level it was. The turmeric and silly putty had a broader scale than that of the red cabbage and silly putty. The turmeric only turned two colors, having a big range of what the pH level of that substance was between, and the red cabbage turned six different colors. The colors that the putty changed did show what pH level a substance was, though not as clearly as the indicator would have without the putty combined with it. PH indicators are used by scientists to test the pH level of a substance. The pH level of a substance matters because if it gets to high it can be dangerous, like acid rain. Red cabbage and Turmeric are also suspected to be helpful with diabetes and cancer. Health can also be improved with these two things because they are natural dyes and will not harm people when mixed with their food.
Key Words: indicator, pH level, pipette



Equations
How to determine the amount of NaOH or HCl to use-


Equations.jpg

Table 1: Red Cabbage Observations
pH Level
Color/ Observations
12
Greenish yellow
10
Blue/ purple
2
Blue
4
Bluish purple
Control
Light purple

Table 2: Turmeric Indicator Observations
pH Level
Color/ Observations
14
Red spot where the NaOH hit
12
Red spots along the top, lighter color putty
11
Yellow, no change
10
Yellow, no change
Control
Yellow


Works Consulted
Chigurupati, N., Saiki, L., Gayser, C., & Dash, A. (2002, July 25). Evaluation of red cabbage dye as a potential natural color for pharmaceutical use . Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T7W-45XT6N2-2&_user=10&_coverDate=07%2F25%2F2002&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1671586425&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2f01e97bad7fdd536ac06017dfd1cd27&searchtype=a

Helemenstine, A. (2011, March 2). Red cabbage ph indicator. Retrieved from http://chemistry.about.com/od/acidsbase1/a/red-cabbage-ph-indicator.htm